Sealed With a Kiss

Quotes of the Week

—NFL vice president of game operations Mike Kensil, announcing a historic pick late in the draft on Saturday evening. Very good for Kensil, who is the ultimate loyal NFL soldier. Now, whenever history looks back on this moment, it will be Kensil’s voice and words that welcome the first openly gay player into the NFL.

II

“If it was A.J. McCarron and Katherine Webb kissing, no one would say anything. But we’ve been documenting the NFL draft for 35 years, and we’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve never seen a man and a man. My instincts were to just let it roll.”

—Veteran ESPN NFL producer Seth Markman, whose job it was to determine what pictures from the draft America got to see over the weekend, and who let the video of Michael Sam and his partner kissing run at length.

More on Markman’s decision in Ten Things I Think I Think.

III

“It’s not the usual development guy behind an accomplished quarterback. He’s a celebrity. He’s Elvis Presley.”

—Dallas owner Jerry Jones, who admitted when the Cowboys picked at number 16 in the first round that Johnny Manziel was the highest-rated player on their board. But he didn’t pick Manziel because of the team’s investment in Tony Romo and because of the Presley/distraction/mayhem/Cowboys/America’s Team factor.

IV

“I’ve known from day one my pad level sucks.”

—Falcons second-round draft pick Ra’Shede Hageman of Minnesota.

Tell us what you really think about your pad level, Ra’Shede.

V

“Mike Glennon is the Bucs’ quarterback of the future here.”

—Tampa Bay coach Lovie Smith, after the Bucs passed on Johnny Manziel in the first round.

Wh-wh-wh-what? What about Josh McCown being signed, and what about the serious pursuit of Manziel?

VI

“This is gonna be a great relationship. Thanks for pulling the trigger, coach.”

—Giants fourth-round running back Andre Williams of Boston College, taking a call from Giants coaches upon learning he’d been drafted by the team.

The MMQB’s Jenny Vrentas was in the Williams home when he got picked, and she’ll be writing the latest installment in an offseason-long series on Williams in the coming days. As a cute aside, when Williams got off the phone with Tom Coughlin, Vrentas reports, his mom bear-hugged him and said: “Now you’re Andre the Giant!”

Stat of the Week

Terrance West might be the best story of anyone in the draft. The running back from Towson (Md.) was picked 94th overall, by Cleveland, in the third round. West’s story: He got no scholarship offers out of a Baltimore city high school or after a year of prep school. He walked on at Morgan State and then Maryland, and couldn’t get a spot on either team. He walked on at a third school, Towson, and stuck in 2011. How about that: The man who couldn’t earn a jersey at Morgan State is a top-100 pick in a rich NFL draft.

Last fall, he averaged 26 carries a game for Towson. He ran for 2,509 yards and 41 touchdowns. Yes, 41 rushing touchdowns. His busiest games:

Opponent

Att.

Yards

TD

Eastern Illinois

39

354

5

UConn

36

156

2

North Carolina Central

31

139

2

William & Mary

30

157

2

Richmond

29

272

4

Delaware

29

206

2

New Hampshire

28

238

3

.

Factoids of the Week That May Interest Only Me

I

On day two of the draft, Cleveland defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil (Towson class of 2001) and assistant linebackers coach Brian Fleury (Towson class of 2003) wore Towson shirts to work. And when Towson running back Terrance West was picked by the Browns in the third round, O’Neil and Fleury stood and sang, “Hail Towson,” the school’s fight song. It goes something like this:

Hail to the Towson Tigers.
We’re true to the black and gold!
Fight on with courage.
Now and forever.
Victory strong and bold!

II

Slot receivers the Patriots have loved:

In 2009, New England drafted the 5-10, 198-pound Julian Edelman, a former option quarterback who ran a 4.51 40-yard dash, and brought him to camp as a slot receiver and returner candidate. He was a seventh-round pick of New England, 232nd overall.

In 2014, New England drafted the 5-8, 190-pound Jeremy Gallon, a former option quarterback who ran a 4.49 40-yard dash, and will bring him to camp as a slot receiver and returner candidate. He was a seventh-round pick of New England, 244th overall.

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

Last Tuesday afternoon, I was aboard Delta flight 6196 from LaGuardia Airport in New York to Nashville. We had just touched down in Tennessee when the woman in front of me, about 55 I’d guess, began to cry. Evidently, she was looking at her phone upon landing and got some distressing news. The crying was a few little sobs at first, and then it got louder, and a few moments later, she got someone on the phone and lost control.

It went on for two or three minutes. Clearly, someone close to her died within the last couple of hours, and the woman was distraught to have missed the final moments … and the chance to say goodbye. As we got to the gate, her crying continued unabated. The guy next to her acted like nothing was happening. Never even glanced over at the woman. She rose to collect her things. Just then, the flight attendant in front of the aircraft walked down the aisle to her and said, “I am so sorry for you. Do you need a hug?”

“YES!” the woman in mourning said, and nearly collapsed into the flight attendant’s arms. They hugged for maybe 10 seconds, and then it was time to go.

Leaving the plane, I passed the flight attendant and said, “That was one of the nicest things I’ve ever seen a flight attendant do.”

Tweets of the Week

I

Excited to be a part of the Minnesota Vikings organization. Looking forward to helping them win a Super Bowl.

The Northwestern quarterback and college players union organizer was signed by the Vikings as an undrafted free-agent Saturday night. What a day for the NFL: Within 90 minutes of each other, the NFL welcomed its versions of Harvey Milk and Samuel Gompers.

II

Carlos Hyde is a nice pick, but he doesn’t know that Frank Gore will never die.

“Draft Day,” starring Kevin Costner, has as part of its plot the Browns bypassing the best quarterback in the draft, picking another player, then trading back up to a higher pick in the first round. The only thing missing is the parallel story: Costner never picked the quarterback. Ray Farmer did.

For the most part Mr. King, a pretty good article. I am a man of no biases but my only complaint on the Michael Sam issue was not the immediate showing of the impact and emotion of the selection of Mr. Sam and his celebratory embraces with his partner, but with the latter tones of self-congratulatory behavior shown by the St. Louis Rams, the NFL, ESPN and now you, Mr. King. We all knew whichever team that drafted or signed Mr. Sam were to be championed at breaking a tolerance barrier long overdue in an overt way in the NFL. We finally know of one player in the midst of dozens that are perhaps trying to express that their choices are also acceptable. It will be slow in coming in this league especially but there is hope.

A film company I work with put together a funny parody about the NFL
draft. Give it a watch and if you like it could you share it for us on Facebook
or Instagram http://youtu.be/JoLgtM1dGSc
and defiantly let me know what you think
about it

Black Americans who don't tune in to michael sam's reality TV show every week are homophobes.

White Americans who don't tune in every week, are homophobes AND racists.

And for the record: when human beings have a visceral reaction to a hissing snake, they don't HATE the snake per se. It is not a considered, contemplative action. It is not an intellectual action. They don't call them GUT-reactions for nothing. But rather have in their DNA some lesson handed down by evolution through the centuries. Hissing snakes are dangerous.

For that reason the vast majority of men who are repulsed sometimes to the point of physical sickness by the sight of a man kissing a man, or even the thought of it, are not evil homophobes, bent on persecution. Like the example of the hissing snake, they too have in their DNA some knowledge handed down by evolution; men kissing men is wrong. NOT morally wrong. Religion has nothing to do with this. I imagine it has to do with the survival of the species, just as the hissing snake does on a more individual level.

But I refuse to be demonized because something turns my stomach. Either there's something wrong with me. Or there's something wrong with that behavior. I know which it is. And men should have to take a beating because they have the guts to say it out loud.

You know, one thing I would have liked to see Peter address was the antics of Jon Gruden on ESPN. As much as he was touting Manziel as The Next Big Thing, you'd have thought he was getting a fee from Manziel's agent.

Peter, why you and other writers keep writing about the POS Sam is only making the problem worse. Wasn't the kiss, on national television, enough for you? Great lesson for our children. It is apparent you like that kind of thing since you can't stop covering it. Please do the majority of us a favor and go suck face with Sam in private and quit writing about him...

Since the Browns have said they don't expect Manziel to be their starting quarterback to begin the season, and since the Rams pretty much have their starting defensive ends set in place for 2014, come August 23 we could see the most media coverage ever of the fourth quarter of a preseason football game.

St Louis at Cleveland. First home game of the season for the Browns. First road game for the Rams and a final period where -- once the subs come in -- could see Michael Sam trying to chase down Johnny Manziel. They may not even both doing any highlights on SportsCenter that night of any part of the game before 10 p.m.

Why have cameras at a gay bar for the draft? My problem with the whole thing being played out on espn is as a white straight male can I have a white only straight bar? Gays get what they want, blacks have affirmative action, Hispanics get free health care. As a white married father where can I go? Can I open a white only bar for men who like women? Protesters would shut it down. I don't watch football with my son to watch black and white guys tongue each other. It was a sad day for America that this crap was on espn. It was the last place I expected it. Ufc here I come

Peter, Some reporter needs to ask NFL about the disparity in their punishment system. Ray Rice beats his girlfriend unconscious and gets no punishment. Another guy smokes some weed and faces a year long suspension. Really? Is that how NFL views the two offenses?

Michael Sam being gay shouldn't be a story, but oh well, let those that care have a celebration. The only problem, for him, is that he was drafted by a team with a great young defensive line, and he might not play a whole lot, like many other 7th round picks. He might have been better off not being drafted, ironically, because he could have signed with a team with a less competitive defensive line situation.

If we're not suppose to care about other people's sexual orientation, why do we obsess about a 7th round draft pick? Why would someone feel compelled to make a public statement about their sexual orientation, for that matter? Apparently Sam thinks we ought to care. If it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. You can't have it both ways.

The error in the Darvish near no-hitter wasn't a factor, so why mention it? That's a bit of saying "this is what my argument was going to be had my beloved Red Sox been no hit". You won't hear Ranger fans whining about Darvish not getting the no no. There's a reason why the rest of the county hates NY and Boston teams and their fans: whining.

Sorry, Peter King, "the world" is not changing - only Europe with a bearded woman singer and America with two men French-kissing. About a billion Muslims think the western world is slowly going insane. Ditto that for another billion Chinese a couple hundred million Russians. All the "two guys kissing" video has done is give Iran and al-Qaeda bulletin board material.

peter king was really unique in the beginning when he wrote about stories that were behind the scene in the world of the NFL, but it's not simple anymore because of the nfl's popularity and political issues such as brain injuries, guns, political correctness, and acceptance of homosexuality. And he took a political stance based upon his personal belief for which he would be judged. i suppose you can read don banks if you want to avoid the politics, but peter king has now established himself as who he is.

@Thomas15 Im scared of hissing snakes because they can be dangerous and I dont remember any white people being called racist for not watching "Homeboys in outer space." Im not going to watch Micheal Sam's or AJ McCarron's reality show. I dont think that makes me a racist homophobe.

@CGGymDog Dude, Gruden does that just about every year for the QBs he sees as the stars of the class. You should have heard him in 2012 when he was promoting RG3 and Russell Wilson. He kept ripping the Rams for sticking with Bradford and almost grawled with Kiper for his dissing on Wilson. Gruden's very passionate when he he falls in love with a QB he has on his camp.

@largebill68 Ray Rice has not been punished yet. Who knows what will happen once the legal system plays out. There is no public video of Rice striking her either. Gordon has failed his second drug test with his employers. The penalty for Gordon is excessive but they have the proof in the urine sample.

@madmanTX my thoughts exactly. Errors are stupid anyway. If an old slow short stop can't get to a ball in the gap it's a hit, but if a young fast short stop gets there but can't make the difficult play then it's an error. Stupid. If a guy gets on, it should be a hit instead of some arbitrary judgement about what might have happened.

Plus, if you're going to have errors they should account for a ball falling directly between two players who were close enough to make the play but erred in communication. If you were rooting against the no-hitter, then you want that play to be a hit. If you were rooting for it, you want it to be an error.

@leon1376 Good point, I guess we should consider al-Qaeda's feelings the next time two men or women kiss on television. Make sure you don't look at the Swimsuit issue when it comes out we don't want Ayman al-Sawahiri to find out.

@Bahia Peter King has always been part of the Nancy Pelosi wing of the loony left. When I used to read him I'd be amused at how he'd work Man-made Global Warming or an anti-gun sneer into seemingly every article. He always struck me as being something of a pretentious, full of himself, supercilious fop. An American Piers Morgan, if you will. Imagine how thrilled he's going to be when the first Conchita Wurst look-alike cheerleader shows up on the Cowboys sidelines. Gay and transvestite cheerleaders in the NFL! Woo-hoo!

@Bahia Yeah, it's amazing the anger people voice in the comments here. There are lots of football writers - if King's opinions make you that angry, why are you here? Some of these people are just crying for attention.

@VanHayhow@KevinBrown2 I agree with Kevin Brown 2, and here's why: 10 years ago, Michael Sam's coming out would have been courageous and newsworthy, but now?

Nowadays an NBA owner loses his team for making a private racist comment, we have several openly gay athletes in other sports who are not only free from any public or private backlash, but are actually celebrated and applauded, we have gay rights marches in every city, we have gay marriage winning every court battle and those that oppose it being marginalized and shouted at in the media, with their churches being vandalized and their beliefs shamed, and being anti gay is far more likely to get you into trouble than actually being gay. I'm glad to live in a time with this type of acceptance and tolerance for all different cultures, lifestyles, and orientations, and I'm happy about all things peaceful and loving, but don't tell me someone is "courageous" for coming out nowadays.

Michael Sam came out at a time when coming out is celebrated, applauded, respected, and popular. He did nothing but help himself by doing so, and he probably wouldn't have been drafted otherwise.

@davidhd@VanHayhow@KevinBrown2I'm not sure I agree. So what that they've come out in other sports? The barrier hadn't been broken in football, considered the most physical and 'alpha' of the major American sports. You're right that right now is a time when this stuff is being celebrated and applauded, but that's only by a vocal minority in the news media blowing it up. The reason they do is because it's still a shock to a lot of people, as you can tell here on this thread. Until it gains mainstream acceptance then to treat it as 'no big deal' when clearly most of society has other ideas, isn't being cognizant of the reality.

@MoeLarryAndJesus@Go_Niners!@Bahia I am a conservative Christian I guess what you would call a Dodo bird. From the handful of your posts I've read all I see from you is name calling, snide remarks and anger. And from your strong defense of Peter King I'm thinking you may be gay yourself. Whether you are or not, just think about living as a gay person in a country that has not been influenced by Jew Dao/